The disclosures herein relate generally to computer systems and more particularly to a system and method for installing device drivers.
A computer system includes a variety of devices that perform a variety of functions. These devices use software known as a driver or device driver to operate and interact with the processor and other devices in the computer system. The devices in a computer system, as well as drivers associated with the devices, often come from a variety of manufacturers. Different device vendors typically provide different wrappers, i.e. applications used to install drivers, to allow their drivers to be installed onto the computer system. The look and feel of the wrappers are often different because they come from different vendors.
The differences in wrappers provided by different vendors may cause difficulties or delays in manufacturing a computer system. The manufacturer of the computer system may need to expend additional resources to accommodate the different wrappers provided for differing devices in a computer system. In addition, a vendor may delay the development of a wrapper or omit the wrapper altogether.
A user of a computer system may also encounter difficulties in installing or upgrading a driver in his or her computer system. These difficulties may be increased by the differing look and feel of driver wrappers from different vendors and may result in the user calling the vendor of the computer system for technical support. It would be desirable to reduce the number of difficulties a user encounters in installing device drivers in a computer system.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for installing device drivers in a computer system.
One embodiment, accordingly, provides a method performed by a computer system. The method includes identifying a first driver and a second driver to be installed in the computer system according to information accessible by the computer system. The method further includes installing the first driver in response to a first device associated with the first driver being present in the computer system, and installing the second driver in response to a second device associated with the second driver being present in the computer system.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that it provides a user or computer manufacturer with the ability to install, upgrade, and manage device drivers from different vendors in a computer system. The user or computer manufacturer has the ability to select drivers for installation and upgrade in a uniform manner. The computer system can ensure that the proper device drivers are installed and upgraded to reduce the potential for difficulties on the part of the user.